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Pearls of Grace - April 1

2016Apr 01

COMMENTS

April 1

Defeating the Enemy With the Weapon of Obedience

“…that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God.”

Jeremiah 42:6

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man He had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. So, the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunrise to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Since the man was showing discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into his weary mind: “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn’t moved.” Discouraged and disheartened, the man was overcome with thoughts of failure. Satan continued with thoughts such as; “why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort, and that will be good enough.” That’s what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of prayer and to take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord,” he said, “I have labored long and hard in Your service, putting all my strength to do that which You have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?”

The Lord responded compassionately, “My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back shiny and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient. Now I will move the rock.”

Author Unknown

God is not looking for strong Christians, productive ones, gifted ones, rich ones, or even intelligent ones. He’s looking for obedient ones. It doesn’t matter if we have it all together if we are not together with Him and His plan to begin with.

Pearls of Grace Devotional Book
Pearls of Grace is a book of devotions for the entire year, including a read through the Bible in a year calendar, broken down for every day. Beautifully written with encouraging words of hope and empowering words of joy and strength for every woman. Pam draws from the truth and richness of God's Word and gives real life examples in her down to earth style. A must have in your library, click here for more information.